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Language focus 1: Hypothetical past situations
A Wish/If only and alternatives
C> Look at the following utterance from the first
conversation in Listening 1.
If only we'd had (the Internet) when I was first starting out.
If only is used to add emphasis to hypothetical situations.
With past events it can also be used to express regret and/or
criticism. Look at the following alternative ways of saying the
same thing.
1 If only ...
2 I wish . . . she hadn't told him.
3 I'd rather/sooner ...
In each case:
a Did she tell him?
b How does the speaker feel about this?
2 C> If the subject is the same in both parts of a sentence
introduced by would rather, would sooner, would prefer to
or would like to, a perfect infinitive is used when referring to
the past, e.g.
I'd rather/sooner have seen it with subtitles. Wouldn't you?
She'd prefer to have travelled on her own.
He'd like to have come, but he's very busy these days.
How does the meaning change if the present infinitive, see,
travel and come, is used in these sentences?
Practice
For 1-6, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar
meaning to the first sentence.
1 If only I'd gone to France instead.
I'd sooner _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _
2 I do think you might have phoned earlier.
I wish _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
3 We don't think you should have done that.
We'd rather _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
4 Don't you regret not going to university?
Don't you wish ____ _ _____________ ?
5 If only you'd mentioned it before!
You should _________ ____ ________
6 Do you wish you had stayed longer?
Would you like _____________________ ?
B Past conditionals
Third conditional sentences can be used to talk about
imaginary situations in the past, as in this example:
If the police had received this information earlier, they
might have had more success in solving the crime.
Here is a more formal way of expressing the underlined part of
the sentence:
Had the police received this information earlier, they might
have had .. .
2 Match each sentence beginning 1-6 with an appropriate
ending, a-f.
Example: 1 c
1 If she hadn't found his name on the Internet,
2 Had I known it was going to rain so heavily,
3 If it hadn't been for her quick thinking,
4 If I didn't have three kids and a mortgage,
5 If they hadn't lost their last three matches,
6 If I got into trouble at school,
a she could have had a serious accident.
b they'd be top of the league now.
c they might never have seen each other again.
d my parents used to stop my pocket money.
e I'd have given up this job a long time ago.
f I would have taken my waterproofs.
3 Look at the sentences in exercise 2 and answer these questions.
1 Which sentences are third conditionals?
2 Which sentences include a combination of past and
present time reference (mixed conditionals)?
3 Which sentence uses the past simple to refer to past time?
E> Read more about the points in sections A and B opposite
in Part A of the Grammar reference on pages 216 and 217.
Practice
Rewrite the ideas expressed in the following sentences using
the structures studied in A and B opposite. Write one sentence
for each situation, using a different structure each time.
Example:
We didn't get back in time to see him. It was a real shame.
If onlv we'd got back in time to see him.
1 He didn't revise for his exams. He regrets this now.
2 I didn't take any books with me on holiday. I got
really bored.
3 It's a good job Steve was there. Thanks to him we were
able to get the car started.
4 My parents bought me an iPod. An iPad would have
been better.
5 I couldn't see the film on telly last night. That was a pity-
1 really wanted to.
6 My French isn't very good. That's probably why I didn't get
the job.
7 They showed us all their holiday snaps. I was hoping to
watch the football.
2 C> With a partner write a six-line dialogue. The first or
last line of the dialogue must be one of these sentences.
I wish you'd told the truth.
I'd rather you hadn't lent it to him.
If only you'd been there - it was so funny.
I'd love to have seen his face when he found out.
If it hadn't been for your stupidity, we wouldn't be in this mess.
3 c::> Read your dialogue to another pair of students, but
do not read out the sentence from exercise 2. Can the other
students guess which sentence you chose?
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Language focus 2: Present and future conditionals
Match each of the conditional sentences from the listening
with one of the explantions a-c.
Zero conditional: If you cut (a tree back), it grows much
stronger.
First conditional: If no positive action is taken, they'll
simply die out.
Second conditional: If you spoke a different language,
you'd be a different person.
a an imaginary situation in the present or future
b a possible future situation and its probable result
c a situation which is always true
2 Look at the following alternative structures to those used in
two of the above examples from the listening.
First conditional
If+ happen to/should makes an event seem more unlikely, or
more of a chance possibility.
If I happen to .. . see anything I think she might like for
her birthday, I'll buy it.
If I should (happen to) ...
In more formal contexts, the following inversion is possible:
Should you require any further information, please do not
hesitate to contact us.
Second conditional
A If+ were to +verb also makes an event seem more
unlikely.
If I were to tell the boss what you've just said, he'd
probably sack you.
Again, an inversion is possible in formal contexts:
Were you to accept our proposal, some funding would
be made available to you.
B Compare the following two structures. Which refers to the
present and which to the past?
If it weren't for my dog, I'd probably go away more.
If it hadn't been for his time in prison, he might have
got the job.
C Supposing/Suppose/Imagine can all be used instead of if,
especially in everyday speech.
Imagine you lost your job. What would you do?
3 For 1- 6 opposite, find one unnecessary word in each
sentence or pair of sentences. The word is either grammatically
incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the sentence(s).
Gathering information 1111
Example:
If you woo-Id have enough time, will you help me to clean
the garage out?
If it weren't broken for my leg, I'd definitely run in the
London Marathon next month.
2 It's very unlikely you'll see her at the concert, but if you
should happen bump into her, give her my regards,
won'tyou?
3 She's always moaning about him - I wouldn't be in the
least bit surprised if she would split up with him soon.
4 I know you don't think there's much chance of it
happening, but just if suppose you did win first prize. How
do you think you'd spend all that money?
5 Imagine that you came face to face with a bull: what
might be the sensible thing to do 7Would you have run
away, for example?
6 We'd have to come to some sort of decision ourselves if
the meeting were to put off for any reason.
If+ will/would/going to
1 In some situations if can be followed by will, would or
going to in the same clause. Match each of the functions
in the box with one of the sentences 1-5, according to the
idea expressed in the if clause.The exercise begins with an
example (0).
Willingness Refusal ~
Intention Insistence Result
O If you'll come this way, Ms Taylor will see you now.
Request
If you will keep eating chocolate, it's no wonder you're
putting on weight.
2 If you won't turn your music down, we'll just have to call
the police.
3 If it'll help you relax, I'll get you a drink or something.
4 If we're going to go for a walk, I think we should leave
now.
5 If you would just let me explain, I'm sure you'd change
your mind.
2 C> Choose three of the sentences in exercise 1 and
for each one rewrite the second clause (the part after the
comma). Ask your partner to match each of the new sentence
halves to an appropriate if clause in exercise 1.
Example:
O ... I'll show you where the lift is.
E> Read more about present and future conditionals in
Part B of the Grammar reference on page 217.
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